Meditation and Me

Universal Loving-Kindness Exercise

The universal loving-kindness exercise is meant for I (me) as the individual and All as the individuals, which explains why it is universal and a collective loving-kindness. Initially, as I began to repeat the phrases for the duration requested, I thought I was going to be very distracted in my mind and have difficulty focusing. However, that was not the case. I discovered that I have already been exhibiting acts and qualities of loving-kindness without having any prior meditative or integral healing practices in my life. I immediately started to recall the acts of kindness that I have assisted friends, family, co-workers, and strangers in gaining freedom from suffering by opening up their opportunities to find health, happiness, and wholeness. It could be that I have suffered in life like others and fostered my own individual path to health, happiness, and wholeness. I share and reflect my personal experiences and education with just about anyone that crosses my path by chance or even by a conversation. My mind and heart has always been great and so I have been told on numerous occasions that it is made of gold. I hold a treasure (my gold heart) and I will unearth more valuableness with time as it passes. I find myself engaging in with random people throughout my day whether it was at the gas station or at the grocery store. Each person has a story and I am a listener and there is more to be told. 

Integral Assessment

My biological aspect of my life is the source of difficulty and suffering at this point and time in my life. My body is the first level of development that is essential to me. Fitness is my primary line of development. I have been lacking on physical exercise with a recent surgery (2 weeks ago today) and have been trying to continue with weight loss since my weight loss surgery that was performed in September 2013. My nutrition is the second line of development that is interconnected with fitness. My body is continuing to heal in recent days and it was a major change for me at such a young 31 years of age. I had a hysterectomy that came along after my 100+ pounds of weight loss. Despite it being a great change for me not to worry about a monthly menstrual cycle, I was saddened that I permanently was no longer able to carry any more children. I don’t understand why that is when I had a tubal ligation 7 years ago when I had my daughter by a scheduled C-section and signed a contract to fix me. This part of my body is healing. My hormones are connected to my spirit and mind which are affected levels of development with the major changes to my physical person within the last ten months. I have cut back on my working so that I could provide further healing, but in some ways I feel like I am just on a vacation that is boring and have made the goal of returning back to work next week a few days at a time and then as tolerated. Growth and development is taking place in many different areas of my life all at the same time. Today I decided to visit my brother who lives 2-3 hours north after I went to have my interview and drug testing in order to start nursing classes next term. Low and behold he coincidentally got the okay to see him son for the week, his son he hasn’t seen in 12 years, my nephew I hadn’t seen in 12 years. This is an emotional experience but happy all at once because neither of our visits were prearranged and I feel like God brought us together. Yesterday my son had a visitor from out of state (grandmother from father’s side of family, a father not involved) and she hadn’t seen him since he was a year old (he is now 10). I am trying to figure out why all of the reunions are taking place all around the same time? I am becoming more awareness that not only my physical body is changing, but the people surrounding my atmosphere are changing. These people are important to me despite the fact that I do not travel often to see them. Today is the first time in 8 years that I visited the town where my son born. The small city has changed, but I don’t miss it because it was a city where negative memories existed, yet I don’t think about those memories as the reason why I am here today. My mind, body, and spirit are becoming balanced and focused on healing in order to promote integral development within my biological developments. I hope this makes sense to anyone that reads it. I am sure it sounds like chatter in your mind, but it’s a reality and recognition of cognizance in my mind.

I will always be able to foster new adaptations with the changes that are ever-lasting by continuing to keep a balanced life amongst the psychological, biological, and other aspects of healing and wellness. Practicing meditation when I have a spare moment that I say to myself "I am bored" can turn into a healthy "I am bored." I will be waiting to approach a yoga class once I am fully healed from surgery and can't wait to see what other dimensions of my mind, body, and spirit will open for doors and windows of opportunities.